Big Cats

In the US where we do have large mountain lions living wild.....it strikes me interesting that no human being has been killed by these cats. Or have I just missed this report?

Mountain lions are known to be man killers and have run down and killed joggers in the desert hills of California. Plus we see jaguars on the border every now and then...another big cat. I live in Texas where we have cougars/mountain lions and bobcats..which are actually quite common. The smaller wild cats we have avoid people unless their kittens are threatened. But not mountain lions. Young males are particularly dangerous.

And I remember seeing a program some time back about a cat keeper in GB who has some legal mountain lions. He sword his cats were visited by one that didn't belong to him.

Fears that black panthers are roaming the Scottish countryside following the release﻿ of the Helensburgh mobile phone footage have been firmly debunked by international﻿ experts. According to big cat conservationist Dr Luke Hunter,﻿ And the lack of﻿ evidence leads Dr Hunter to remain unconvinced﻿ about the﻿ existence of big cats﻿ in Scotland.

But experts have examined the shaky footage﻿ and say the animal’s characteristics are typical of a domestic cat.
Rob Weaver, a BBC wildlife presenter and film-maker, said it would be very unusual for﻿ a big cat to calmly walk around in a public place.
“The small, almost dainty steps﻿ the﻿ creature takes along the rail are not characteristic of a puma, or a similar big cat, which tend to have a far more loping gait,” he said.
The footage looks very much﻿ like a very well fed domestic cat to me. ‘Leopards (black panthers are melanistic leopards) do not carry their tails upright, which you see in the footage, while domestic cats characteristically do. He added ‘I’ve seen big cats –leopards, lions, cheetahs, jaguars, tigers and cougars – in the wild thousands of﻿ times and nothing about this footage has the﻿ appearance or look and feel of any of those species. No way﻿ is this a big cat.’
Graham Law, a zoologist at Glasgow University who has worked with leopards for 23 years, also said the animal was more likely to be of the domestic variety.He﻿ said: “The video isn’t of a good﻿ enough quality to verify exactly what﻿ the animal is. A leopard would not﻿ confidently walk down a railway line. It would more likely move along the sleepers or stay in﻿ heavily forested areas.
Application of﻿﻿ Locard's Exchange Principle as well as the Application of the﻿ Simons﻿ Test. Then we have Dr Luke Hunter of Panthera (well respected) & Dr Alan Rabinowitz, as well as Dr Graham Law as well as Prof McDonald, and so on who disagree completely and have shown this in the Black Beast of Exmoor Documentary. Until there is fact and proof﻿ then this﻿ myth will continue as a crank subject. Even﻿ Mark Fraser said﻿ it was a crank subject before he closed down BCIB.
After all these years of these mythical big cat sightings in the UK and still no fact and proof. Tunbridge the so-called big cat tracker from Stroud﻿ still can not show any of his big cats. Then we have McGowan and the rest﻿ of the fantastists who swear that ﻿ these cats are here and breeding? Such fools try to use ego,﻿ hype, big words and "I am an expert" or "I know﻿ what I am talking about" rubbish. They﻿ say big cats are breeding in the UK; big﻿ cats are doing this and that﻿ in the UK. BS..
Despite the usual dross from others saying that big﻿ cats frequent railway lines, really? Since when do cats read train﻿ time tables...? Saying that zoo keepers and the lady in the monster quest documentary taking about what is and is not a big﻿ cat.﻿ She never "forced" her opinion on anyone. Unless these UK big cat crypto groups and groupies can come up with real hard science fact and truth, showing that such mythical cats do exist. breeding and wild, then sadly they have no reply. No big cats..
Scott Lope of Big Cat Rescue, who was used on the MonsterQuest: Black Beast of Exmoor﻿ TV episode 2008 said: "these are﻿ seen as minor scratches, not﻿ consistent with any width or claws of any big cat or wild cat. I would seriously doubt that this was caused by a﻿ big cat other than a domestic cat or by oneself." Then we have Dr Luke Hunter of Panthera (well respected) & Dr﻿ Alan Rabinowitz,﻿ as well as Dr Graham Law as well as Prof McDonald, and so on, who all disagree﻿ with this myth hype.
Cryptozoology concerns itself with﻿ unknown﻿ species for which﻿ there are "myths"﻿ and with supposedly-extinct species. Strictly-speaking, a species that is simply unknown﻿ is not cryptozoological. Cryptozoology" is that it is not a legitimate field of science. Any idiot can call himself a cryptozoologist as if it means something important﻿ and it does not. A zoologist is a legitimate title, as is geologist, biologist, etc. Cryptozoologist means nothing.

Dr Nick Royle, a senior lecturer in Behavioural Ecology﻿ at﻿ Exeter University, said﻿ people﻿ could overestimate the size of animals,﻿ which could explain sightings.
He said that research conducted at the university had shown that when viewing an object that was the size and shape of a large domestic cat at a distance of 230ft (70m) from them 21% of people estimated the 'cat' to be the size of a leopard or larger.

Dr Royle said: "The research﻿ showed﻿ that people can estimate regular shapes﻿ such as rectangles of different sizes correctly at distance, but have difficulty estimating﻿﻿ the size of cat-shaped objects.Application of Locard's Exchange Principle as well as the Application﻿ of the﻿ Simons﻿ Test. Then we have Dr Luke Hunter of Panthera (well respected) & Dr Alan Rabinowitz, as﻿ well as Dr Graham Law as well as Prof﻿ McDonald, and so on who disagree completely and have shown this in the﻿ Black Beast of Exmoor Documentary. Until there is fact and﻿ proof﻿﻿﻿ then this myth will continue as a crank subject. Even Mark Fraser said it was a﻿ crank subject before he﻿ closed down BCIB﻿.
Sorry, but no "big cats" wild, free or breeding within the UK.

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